The parish babies thrive or fail.
His blessings do the work they always did.
Can’t he just fake the faith and do the job?
Who could know he’s backslid?
He eats a hotdog with the bank manager
and sits in the bleachers at the Mud Hens game.
None of the Dads minds he’s the preacher,
since he doesn’t mind they’re profane.
Ms. Miller likes him maybe too well.
The teenagers still think he’s cool
(though they also still don’t attend
his special teenager Sunday school).
So what, if he can’t feel
the real pressure of God’s touch?
Does what a person believes
quietly inside matter so much?
He performs his offices with prompt devotion,
never mind he’s convinced there’s no God.
If not for their souls, he’s good for their emotions.
Unlike their last preacher, he wants his sheep
flawed.
